During the year we had used Connected Math 2 as our text book. We have finished five out of eight units; Prime Time, Bits and Pieces 1and 2, Covering and Surrounding, and Shapes and Designs; and we are still working on How Likely Is It? Each unit is made up of four to five different chapters; with at least four investigations within each chapter. During each investigation, there are at least four to five different key points, with each key point focusing on something different. Each day we usually go over a point.
Now, on to homework; we have a decent amount, with usually no homework on Fridays.
Developing strategies while looking at concepts by solving problems in class is usually an everyday thing. We have a math binder to help us out with our organization. We put homework, class work, reference sheets, lab sheets, assessments, our current text book, and vocabulary book in our math binder. In our text book, there is usually page or two that discusses the unit project. In each book, there are ACE problems. ACE stands for Application, Connections, and Extensions. After each investigation there is a mathematical reflection. A reflection are math related questions that are answered throughout the investigation. Also, in the back of the book, there is a glossary and index. We must write the entire glossary from the back of the book, into our vocabulary notebook. Our vocabulary will follow us from year to year as we move from grade to grade. Adding more vocabulary will increase our math skills; and that’s what I hope to do!
Each unit opens up with three questions that will refer to the unit. The three questions tell us what the unit will be like; and later, the problems will show up in the book. Some examples of the questions are: What are the chances that a person can curl their tongue, as for what property of a hexagon makes it a good shape for the cells of a honey comb?
The unit provides a set of math highlights that preview important things in the book. You could find it in the very beginning of the book. Mathematical highlights is a good place for parents to look to see what their child has been up to in math. We also do math packets. We get them on Monday and are due at the end of the week. They are filled with math problems with at least three or four pages.
My favorite unit was a recent unit: Shapes and Designs. This book has four investigations that make up 97 fun filled pages. Shapes and Designs contains 36 glossary words that we have to write in our vocabulary book. An opening question from this book is: Why are braces on tower, roofs, and bridges in the shape of triangles and not rectangles or pentagons? The unit project was about regular polygons and a lot of facts about them.
Some things that I learned during this amusing unit would include why some polygons tile while others don't, about angles and facts about particular regular polygons. However, throughout this whole book, the investigation that I enjoyed the most would be investigation two because I got to learn some interesting facts about bees and I studied angles. I also thought this because I was taught how to use a mathematical tool (protractor) as I also picked up a few tricks on developing angle benchmarks.
Throughout my math class, my math teachers say that out math is “Connected Math”, which is true! For instance, angles are on your body. We would also say: “Apples to apples and oranges to oranges, no orples!” when we are comparing one thing to another (for example, if you have different denominators, you would need to find a common denominator. So, to get a common denominator, you would multiply the denominator by a number to get a multiple, and multiply the numerator by the same number). I will really miss this math class!!
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Math Reflection
By: Emily Smith
During the year we had used Connected Math 2 as our text book. We have finished five out of eight units; Prime Time, Bits and Pieces 1and 2, Covering and Surrounding, and Shapes and Designs; and we are still working on How Likely Is It? Each unit is made up of four to five different chapters; with at least four investigations within each chapter. During each investigation, there are at least four to five different key points, with each key point focusing on something different. Each day we usually go over a point.
Now, on to homework; we have a decent amount, with usually no homework on Fridays.
Developing strategies while looking at concepts by solving problems in class is usually an everyday thing. We have a math binder to help us out with our organization. We put homework, class work, reference sheets, lab sheets, assessments, our current text book, and vocabulary book in our math binder. In our text book, there is usually page or two that discusses the unit project. In each book, there are ACE problems. ACE stands for Application, Connections, and Extensions. After each investigation there is a mathematical reflection. A reflection are math related questions that are answered throughout the investigation. Also, in the back of the book, there is a glossary and index. We must write the entire glossary from the back of the book, into our vocabulary notebook. Our vocabulary will follow us from year to year as we move from grade to grade. Adding more vocabulary will increase our math skills; and that’s what I hope to do!
Each unit opens up with three questions that will refer to the unit. The three questions tell us what the unit will be like; and later, the problems will show up in the book. Some examples of the questions are: What are the chances that a person can curl their tongue, as for what property of a hexagon makes it a good shape for the cells of a honey comb?
The unit provides a set of math highlights that preview important things in the book. You could find it in the very beginning of the book. Mathematical highlights is a good place for parents to look to see what their child has been up to in math. We also do math packets. We get them on Monday and are due at the end of the week. They are filled with math problems with at least three or four pages.
My favorite unit was a recent unit: Shapes and Designs. This book has four investigations that make up 97 fun filled pages. Shapes and Designs contains 36 glossary words that we have to write in our vocabulary book. An opening question from this book is: Why are braces on tower, roofs, and bridges in the shape of triangles and not rectangles or pentagons? The unit project was about regular polygons and a lot of facts about them.
Some things that I learned during this amusing unit would include why some polygons tile while others don't, about angles and facts about particular regular polygons. However, throughout this whole book, the investigation that I enjoyed the most would be investigation two because I got to learn some interesting facts about bees and I studied angles. I also thought this because I was taught how to use a mathematical tool (protractor) as I also picked up a few tricks on developing angle benchmarks.
Throughout my math class, my math teachers say that out math is “Connected Math”, which is true! For instance, angles are on your body. We would also say: “Apples to apples and oranges to oranges, no orples!” when we are comparing one thing to another (for example, if you have different denominators, you would need to find a common denominator. So, to get a common denominator, you would multiply the denominator by a number to get a multiple, and multiply the numerator by the same number). I will really miss this math class!!